Darkest Days
by The End of Ages
Summary: In the aftermath of the Great War, Vyse and Ramirez discover the truth of the true olde world.
1. 00 Prologue

Darkest Days  
  
-End of Ages  
  
[Author's notes. Skies of Arcadia and all it's related characters are not owned by Ages. Rather, by Overworks and Sega.]  
  
Prologue  
  
Long ago, before there were ships to pilot, or even pirates to pilot them, before the worlds of new and old, there was a simple world. A world of one civilization. The Eden continent, filled with the element of darkness, of matter, of anti-matter, was the only continent on Arcadia. As such, only one civilization emerged, the Edenians, lived. They lived in prosperity, in peace. Harmony lived amongst the people of Eden, for there was no one to disagree with them.  
  
They lived in a perfect balance. Until their fate was announced.  
  
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Eden was no longer the darkness-engulfed continent it once was. Now filled with light of destruction. The continent was breaking apart, vastly in it's mass. The elder, holding a small child, along with his advisor, stood near a metal shaft.  
  
"Fa mijh jugo eid duqo skem hvoj mujj tazeqora," said the advisor.  
  
Regulus sighed in disbelief, "Mc ezyc qvoyr foyy pkozt ij he yosa ezqa meka ..."  
  
The elder opened the metal shaft, placing the small child upon the cradle. Tears struck his dark face, he closed the shaft.  
  
"Fekke zeh, Regulus," said the advisor, "hvoj jvusg fuj rajotpar he nkehaqh utuozjh uzc ruztak. Eeik jez, Nautilus, foyy pa jusa."  
  
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For hundreds of years, the shaft stood there, unharmed. Long it stood there as the continent of Eden was divided into six. The black moon that once owned the sky's darkness no longer hovered triumphantly over the world of Arcadia. Alas, replaced by it, six moons that symbolized the world's new elements--flame, wind, ice, nature, lightning, and existance.  
  
The people of the new civilizations had gotten along. Be it that they were friendly, or that they knew not of each other's existence, was never known.  
  
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Alas, we come to the downfall of the old world.  
  
We come to the world residing under the moon of yellow. As if it were exactly the same as the yellow continent of the new world, the old continent strived for power, for rule. The people under the yellow moon demanded that they be the prime ruling continent in all of Arcadia. Through their knowledge of technology, and their yellow moonstones, they created a massive bio-weapon made up purely of the thunderous clouds that engulfed the yellow continent in eternal darkness. They dubbed their creature, their arachnid of electricity, Yelligar.  
  
Of course, the people of the yellow continent, Guyiu, talked big, but alas, could they even use their weapon of mass destruction if it were necessary? Hardly. The Guyiuans were too afraid to use Yelligar, so they merely threatened the other continents, a cold war, if you prefer. To control the arachnid, a massive collection of moonstones formed together in what the Guyiuans called the yellow moon crystal. This crystal was to be passed down from emperor to emperor, in hopes that it would never have to be used.  
  
Slowly but surely, the other dwellers followed suit. Striving to be the higher power, more of these Gaia-gues, as they were called, were in the works. The people under the moon of blue, the Cisehemuns, completed their Gaia-gues second. Bluheim, the massive water leviathan. The Cisehemuns, unlike the Guyiuans, chose not to be threatening, rather, vengeful. Immediately, the Gaia-gues of the two continents were summoned to fight amongst one another.  
  
It happened. The war amongst the Gaia-gues had commensed. The continent under the red moon, Zujk, through simple deseign, created their behemoth, Reccumen. The quad-headed beast used but one means of offense--the massive 'Red Ray,' of which either of the four heads would concentrate all their strength, and the devine powers of the red moon, into a deadly beam of fire. The Zujkians believed not in the war, and they said that Reccumen was only created as a means of defense for Zujk, hence the inability to fly.  
  
Coincidentally, the people under the moon of green, the Xduhuxu region, believed the same as the people of Zujk, and created their Gaia-gues simularly. Grendel, the massive giant was sworn to protect the people under the green moon.  
  
Second-to-last, we have finally the Tyuqouns, people under the moon of ice, purple. They were peaceful, passive in their ways. They were also doubtful in the wars. No one would be able to brave the cold of Tyuqou, said they in their own arrogance. However, they did create a purple moon crystal. They wanted to be in the war as well, but in their arrogance and cowardice, they would fight from afar. They imbedded a young arcwhale with their purple moon crystal. The youthful whale would decide for them if the war amongst the Gaia-gues was to be won by them. Plurgoth was born.  
  
For decades the war amongst the Gaia-gues continued on. They were the epitome of their greed, their rage, their lust for power. Slowly, Arcadia was dying.  
  
Only one civilization remained certain. If this war were to continue without disruption, the world would surely die. The people under the largest remaining continent, Soltis, held strong. They were going to cleanse the world of her suffering.  
  
The ancient silver civilization had created their Gaia-gues, the symbol for life and death, for existence. They had created Zelos. The Gaia-gues of silver had no definite shape, as the Silvites believed not in definition. With Zelos's completion, the people of the silver moon said their good-bye to the world they once knew, their home. The capital of Soltis, the Great Silver Shrine, jetisoned high into the air, out of the atmosphere, onto the moon of silver, where it's home was claimed. The remainder of Soltis, graved down below into the deeper skies. The only proof of Soltis was the gateway, the Shrine ...  
  
Using the power of all the known elements, Zelos threw a pure beam of hyper energy into the atmosphere. Divided into five, the beams rammed into the moons, minus silver. The eruption of moonstones from all the moons hailed unto the Arcadia planet below. The planet was cleansed once more.  
  
The Gaia-gues war haulted, for there was no one to command them. Admittingly, this rain had not managed to kill off the entire world. There were some survivors.  
  
Tartas, a young soldier of Guyiu, took the yellow moon crystal. He decided rather than to control the damned world, to end the suffering. He summoned Yelligar into the nearby maw, where he threw the crystal into the darkness. Through all the years, the maw, now dubbed Maw of Tartas, was sealed. The yellow Gaia-gues remained active in the maw, alas, dormant. Inable to cause harm to the new world.  
  
The other Gaia-gues sunk back into their graves to be summoned again at a later date, perhaps. Only one remained, Plurgoth, as he flew on with the rest of Arcadia, as no one commanded him but himself. Some say that Plurgoth returned to his home, only to find that no one had survived. They had brought to their own demise, as the cold ended up being too much for them. The entire race died out ...  
  
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Finally, we come to near-present day, and we return to the shaft, or should I say, shafts. You see, the rains of destruction was successul in two ways. It cleansed the world, but alas, it also caused a minor rip the space/time continuum. How minor, you ask? Too minor to cause any real danger, or so the people of the new world thought. The people of the Great Silver Shrine took heed of one shaft, leaving the other stranded on a small island not too far from there.  
  
[End of Prologue] 


	2. 01 Errands to Run

Darkest Days  
  
-End of Ages  
  
[AN: Skies of Arcadia and all it's related characters are not owned by Ages. Rather, by Overworks and Sega.]  
  
Chapter One  
  
Errands to Run  
  
Arcadia, world where the skies replaced the ocean, where solid ground was unheard of--dismissed as a mere myth, 'twas the world in revered reconstruction. Five lunar cycles had elapsed since it had happened. It, a war, not of poverty or land, or from tyranny or even freedom, but a war of life, had centered on just a single day. For four young warriors, the fate of Arcadia rested upon their small shoulders.  
  
Despite their youth, no other man alive, of any age, would've led the great war in a better fashion. Hell, no one else would've led the great war victoriously. No, the fate of Arcadia, of many worlds among, rested upon those four.  
  
This is the aftermath of the great war. Five lunar cycles, as previously stated, have elapsed. Working together, the people of Arcadia embraced their heroes and helped rebuild the world as it stood prior to the events. Tragic deaths of many of those who sacrificed were not in vain.  
  
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Mid-morning. The heat from the Red Moon blazed lightly on the small moon-shaped island of Crescent Isle. Less active than usual, due to the many crewmembers departing to continue with their own lives, however, the once secret base of a division of the Blue Rogues was still far from inactive. The captain, alas, was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Hans," Aika shouted to the young engineer, "how goes the repairs on the Delphinus?"  
  
Hans, still anxious since Brabham had left him in charge of the duties, let a cheerful response, "We're working on the last engine right now. Give me a few more hours and she'll be ready to fly!"  
  
"Try to get her done before the captain gets back!," she yelled, "I want to surprise him."  
  
"Sure thing, Miss Aika!"  
  
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Captain Vyse was busy on his routine flight for supplies. The Delphinus absorbed the energy from the moonstones like a drunken pirate did with loqua. He remained at the helm, tired. His two former helmsmen, Lawrence and Don, were continuing their lives elsewhere--Lawrence looking for another job in Valua, Don working as Admiral for Espranza. He and his two accomplises, Fina--the shy, innocent Silvite, and Marco--who would depart for Valua once he returned from this routine flight, rode along the newly built Argonaut, a wooden ship, much smaller in size than the Delphinus. Argonaut was used for things like this, various errands that wouldn't take nearly as long as it took to prepare the giant metal warship. On a bad day, the Argonaut would take no more than a half hour's time to ready. Whereas, the Delphinus would take up to three hours. The sacrifice for conveniance was fighting ability, for the Argonaut lacked the firing capabilities the Delphinus has. Clearly, Argonaut was not meant for battling. It could take smaller ships easily, but an entire fleet, that would require the captain to have a little too much loqua.  
  
"You look tired, Vy-er, Captain." Fina said softly.  
  
"I'll be fine, Fina," Vyse reassured.  
  
"She's right, Cap'n," Marco replied, "you didn't get any sleep last night."  
  
Despite Vyse's relentless complaints towards it, he knew that Marco was right. He hadn't managed to get any sleep at all during the previous night. Something had haunted him, much to his dismay.  
  
"If you insist," said the captain to his crew, "then once we reach Nasr, then I'll allow myself rest."  
  
"Good to hear," Fina commented, "I'm sure that Marco and I'll be able to retrieve enough moonstones for a good while."  
  
"I know you will, I can trust you." His reply.  
  
Vyse continued his concentration on the skies. They had been travelling for a half hour, they would be approaching Nasr very shortly. Nasr didn't worry him too much, however, once the mission was over, he'd have to swing by the kingdom under the Yellow Moon, Valua, to say goodbye to yet another crew member, Marco. He had known the kid for at least an entire cycle, it would not be an easy trip without the third member. Deep thought had engulfed him as his mind wandered into various places regarding the trip back. He wasn't exactly thrilled about being on the same ship alone with Fina, for she gave him hurt for reasons he never truely understood. Even still, if they were to be attacked on their return ... he didn't even want to think about that. Instead, his mind drifted to one last thing that had caused his lack of rest--as his home was attacked by Ramirez, he quoted something troubling, Where there is light, there is darkness. Vyse hadn't quite understood what it had meant. The quote begain to ring in his head, causing it to ache.  
  
"Captain!"  
  
Instantly, the voice retrieved him from the monotony of Ramirez's voice swimming though his mind. Gazing around to see who had called him, he saw the shy golden-haired Silvite at his side.  
  
"Yes, Fina?" he asked.  
  
"We're in Nasr airspace, we should be approaching the docks in just a few short moments." Fina replied.  
  
"Thank you, Fina."  
  
A few short moments were quite the overstatement. Even without the aid of Vyse's skyseer patch, he could see the railings on the docks. If he were to continue in his daze, the Argonaut would've rammed head on into them.  
  
"Marco, drop anchor," he commanded, "we're docking."  
  
"Aye, Cap'n!"  
  
Argonaut slowly came to a hault between the two docks, dropping it's anchor. The three walked to the deck of the ship, prepared for the blazing heat of the Red Moon.  
  
"We'll be back soon, Cap'n!" Marco said cheerfully.  
  
"Good to hear it, Marco."  
  
"I want you to get some sleep while we're gone, got it?" the once shy Silvite encouraged.  
  
"Yes, ma'am!" Vyse shouted. For he dared not to defy the Silvite, especially since her mere pressence had brought him great pain for reasons unknown.  
  
Marco snickered quietly to himself, Who'da thought that the shyest of people would bring the Cap'n to his knees?!, he thought.  
  
As soon as the two walked out of Vyse's sight, he walked back to his quarters where he allowed himself a good rest.  
  
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Meanwhile, back on Crescent Isle, the repairs on the final engine of the Delphinus were complete. Hans and his crew had slaved on the engines for a solid three rotations, trying to perfect them. All that was left to do was load it back into the Delphinus's hull. Until the second crane was installed in the hideaway, this would've been a rather difficult task. However, now Hans just had to operate the crane properly and it'd be reinstalled within the hour.  
  
"Good work, team!," Hans congratulated, "we've managed to repair Delphinus to working order. And the Captain isn't even back yet!"  
  
"He'll be surely pleased." Phrade, a newcomer to Crescent Isle, chirped up.  
  
Phrade arrived at Crescent Isle not long ago, about a lunar cycle. He was fairly knowledgeable about the engineering systems of warships, but he was starved for more information. Hans did as his father did to he, and took Phrade in as an apprentice.  
  
"Vyse'll be so proud'a me!" Aika cheered, reentering the hideaway.  
  
"You've done a good job leading us in his absence, Miss Aika," Hans reassured.  
  
"Hopefully he'll let me do this more often!"  
  
"I wouldn't doubt it, Miss Aika."  
  
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Argonaut drifted slowly into the port of Valua. The large, wooden vessel creaking as it slowed, showing signs of age, which was quite premature.  
  
Though it had only been half a cycle since the rains had nearly destroyed it, Valua had erupted in activity since then. Reconstruction of the once two cities of Lower and Upper Valua, now merged, was quite apparent. Large buildings replaced the rubble that was six lunar cycles ago. People were getting along with one another, no longer were people afraid of what the other world above or below them was like.  
  
"Enrique did a good job rebuilding Valua." Vyse stated, as if he was trying to get the thought of losing his first crewmember out of his head.  
  
"It's almost as if Valua was ..." Fina started.  
  
"...reborn?" Vyse interrupted.  
  
"Indeed."  
  
Marco stood speechless. Over a cycle ago, the place he called home was a dump. Selfish people of the upper city triumphed over the scared people of the lower. Now, every trace of the old Valua was gone, replaced with a new, well-established Valua. Marco looked proud.  
  
"Well, Marco," Vyse said, "looks like this is goodbye."  
  
"It was a pleasure to sail with you, Cap'n!"  
  
"No, no, Marco," Vyse reiterated, "the pleasure was all mine."  
  
"Goodbye, Marco." Fina stated, giving her mate a nice hug of appreciation. Marco simply blushed.  
  
"Goodbye, Miss Fina. Goodbye, Cap'n!"  
  
And with that, Marco drifted away from the wooden vessel. He couldn't fight the tears that would eventually pour over his now clean face. Vyse stood with Fina to his right. She could sense that he wasn't too thrilled to lose another crewmember, let alone his first. She placed her hand upon his shoulder, in hopes to reassure her captain. Unknown to her, the silent pain had struck Vyse once again.  
  
"We should go," he said quietly.  
  
Fina said nothing. She let a nod of approval escape her mind, as they wandered back to the Argonaut.  
  
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The trip back to Crescent Isle was long and tiring. The rest that Vyse received whilst Fina and Marco retrieved moonstones wasn't very long. Rings surrounded his eyes. He knew that once he returned to Crescent Isle, Fina would insist that he get more rest before nightfall.  
  
Fina tried to calm the uneasy silence, "What should we do when we get back, Captain?"  
  
Looking behind him only to see Fina's pale face, Vyse responded sarcastically, "Count how many crewmembers we have left!"  
  
They both let out a small laugh, but alas, the uneasy silence continued among them. She knew something was up with her beloved Captain, but she, being still new to this world, knew not how to confront him about it. She let out a sigh, thinking of all the times that he had been helpful to her. He always seemed to know the right words which would make her feel much better, but alas, she didn't know how to return the favor. Another sigh let out, she glanced towards the window to her left. In an odd turn of events, she gasped, and ran to her Captain.  
  
"Vyse," she gasped, "what does that look like to you?"  
  
Vyse turned to Fina's direction, seeing a very dark, very gray funnel cloud form. He readjusted his skyseer lens to get a closer look. The winds were spinning at rapid speeds. Sure enough, the funnel would engulf the ship in an instant.  
  
"We have to get back to Crescent Isle," he stated, "to warn the others!"  
  
"Right!"  
  
Vyse took the wheel in anticipation, continuing on route to his home. This is where the Argonaut's strength lied. In the lack of power, the wooden vessel was among the fastest ships that took the skies. The funnel was quickly approaching, but once Argonaut got to speed, there was no chance in getting taken in by it.  
  
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Tikatika, still in his usual spot next to the meeting room, trembled at what he saw. The winds were strong, and heading directly for the Argonaut. He had to warn Aika.  
  
The elevator will take too long, he thought to himself, guess I'll just take a risk and leap!  
  
Without thinking, Tikatika leapt from his spot, landing on the pavement below moments later, sustaining minor damage. Picking himself back up, he ran to Aika.  
  
"Aika!," he shouted, out of breathe, "urgent news!"  
  
"What is it, Tikatika?" Aika questioned.  
  
"Winds ... strong ... straight for ... Argonaut ..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Tikatika caught his breathe once more, "I've spotted a massive storm heading straight for the Argonaut."  
  
Aika was speechless.  
  
"If we don't act fast, it'll come for us too!"  
  
Aika nodded, "Argonaut is too fast for that storm. Eventually, Vyse and Fina'll be back here without a scratch."  
  
"But what about the storm, it'll hit us soon."  
  
"True," she replied, "tell Hans to ready the Delphinus. I want it up and running as soon as the Cap'n gets back!"  
  
"No problem!"  
  
Instantly, Tikatika ran into the cavern that was deemed the highest point of Crescent Isle.  
  
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Meanwhile, the wooden vessel Argonaut was struggling to maintain its speed. It was rather difficult to maintain do to only having two crew members to man it. However, she continued on strong. Fortunately, the winds saw that it was inevitable to keep up with the target, and eventually died out.  
  
"Captain!" Fina chirped up.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"The winds," she replied, "they're ... gone!"  
  
Vyse relieved his position at the wheel to glance at the window. Sure enough, there was nothing of any threat around them at all.  
  
"I don't know what happened ..."  
  
"We shouldn't worry about it for now," he assured, "we need to regroup with the others."  
  
Vyse returned to the wheel, and Argonaut's speed dropped greatly.  
  
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"Aika," yelled Tikatika from afar.  
  
"What is it, Tikatika?"  
  
"The winds are gone ... I don't know how to explain it ..."  
  
"That's odd." Aika mused.  
  
"Should I tell Hans to cancel the preperations?" he asked.  
  
"No, Tikatika," she replied, "that could've just been the eye of the storm. It could come back."  
  
"I see."  
  
"I want the Delphinus to be fully prepared to launch if that storm comes back, got it?"  
  
"No problem!"  
  
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The Argonaut vastly approaching its home ventured onward. Without Vyse's lens, he could see the port directly ahead of them. They had been travelling for a good hour. It would be nice to get on solid land once more.  
  
"We're approaching Crescent Isle, Captain." Fina chirped.  
  
"I'm aware, Fina," his reply, "we should be docked within ten minutes."  
  
A smile broke onto Fina's pale face. The Argonaut loomed forward towards the island.  
  
[End of Chapter One] 


End file.
